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Ice Hockey European Championship 1912
The Ice Hockey European Championship 1912 was the third edition of the ice hockey tournament for European countries associated to the International Ice Hockey Federation. Overview The tournament was held from February 2–4, 1912, in Prague, Austria-Hungary. It was later annulled as Austria was not yet a member of the IIHF at the time the tournament took place. The first game on February 2 ended in a 5-0 victory for Bohemia over Austria. The Bohemians jumped out to a 2-0 lead after the first period with Jaroslav Jarkovsky scoring both goals. They added 3 more goals in the second period, including a third goal from Jarkovsky, sealing the 5-0 win. The second game took place between Germany and Austria on February 3. The Germans took an early 2-0 lead after the first period, but the Austrians scored early in the second to pull within a goal. However, they were unable to score again, and Germany scored two quick goals late in the second period to ice the 4-1 victory. The third and final game on February 4 would decide the European Champion of 1912. Both Bohemia and Germany had easily defeated the Austrians in their previous games, and were thus tied for first place in the tournament. Due to a better goal differential, Bohemia only needed to play the Germans to a tie to be crowned champions. Bohemia took a 1-0 lead 10 minutes into the first period on a goal by Vindys. The goal infuriated the Germans, as they felt that the goal cage was out of position when the puck entered the net. Despite their protests, the goal was allowed. The Germans did not accept the ruling, and threatened to forfeit the game. After discussions with Emil Procházka, an LIHG delegate from Prague, Germany agreed to continue the game. Once the game resumed, the Germans answered with a goal by Martin at the 19 minute mark, and the first period ended with the teams deadlocked at 1. Germany then took a 2-1 lead on a goal by Lange with eight minutes left in the second period. With only a minute left, the Bohemians equalized on a goal by Sroubek, and thus won the championship. A short time after the game, the Germans filed a complaint with the LIHG. Again, they protested that the Bohemians first goal should've been disallowed, but were again unsuccessful in their protest. Their second claim was that the game should not have taken place to begin with. Due to warm temperatures in Prague, the ice had begun to thaw, with blades of grass sticking out through the ice in areas. This protest was also denied. After being denied for the second time, the Germans then argued that the tournament shouldn't have counted because Austria was not an LIHG member at the time it was played. The Austrian Ice Hockey Federation had been founded several weeks before the tournament, but the country did not officially join the LIHG until March 18, six weeks after the 1912 EC had been played. Unlike the first two protests, The LIHG committee accepted this argument. The committee first tried to set a new date for a replaying of the tournament, but after failing to find a suitable venue, the idea was dropped. Louis Magnus, present of the LIHG, was annoyed by all the protests made by the Germans. He asked the Brussels IHC organization from Belgium to arrange a tournament that would serve as a replacement for the 1912 EC. Henri van den Bulcke, the president of Brussels IHC, agreed. At the fifth LIHG Congress held in Brussels at the Tavern Royal, Louis Magnus formally resigned as LIHG President due to the debacle of the 1912 EC. He opposed the annulling of the tournament while Henri Van den Bulcke supported the Germans. Van den Bulcke then was elected as the new president of the LIHG. Now Germany ended up winning the replacement tournament in Brussels (however Bohemia and Austria were absent from it), but the LIHG Congress decided that it shouldn't be counted as the official European Championship for 1912 as some of the teams had played with imports (which were banned from the Euro Championships). Instead it was agreed that the tournament was the first LIHG Championship. Results February 2 February 3 February 4 Final standings Team rosters Top Goalscorer Jaroslav Jarkovsky (Bohemia), 3 goals, Lange (Germany), 3 goals External links * Euro Championship 1912 Category:Tournaments